I am not white nor a racist by any means, I am just an open minded individual.
It’s roughly nine in the morning and my brother and I are getting ready to go to class as if it were any normal Wednesday. It’s absolutely frigid out and we’re both heavily groggy in no mood to mutter a single word to each other; that is until we turn on the radio to “Miss Jones in The Morning” on New York’s Hot 97. The question of the day is “What do white people do that get you mad?” I turn to my brother with my eyes now wide open and flaring; “can you believe what this woman just said, what if a white person did this?”
What If? (Hypothetical)
What if the crew of “Elvis Duran and the Z-Morning Zoo” (all of whom are mostly white) posed the same question but instead asked their listeners what irritated them about black people? Imagine the uproar that it would cause around the country. We’ve seen what happened in the Imus situation (rightfully so), but something like this would blow that out of the water. The first thing that would happen, is someone like Reverend Al Sharpton would hit every media outlet possible demanding the ouster of all the morning jockeys who participated in the discussion along with protest outside the offices of Z-100. The second thing that would happen is the media being all over what they would probably label as “The Race Controversy” like a pack of of wild animals and we (the public) would not be able to turn on our televisions with out seeing something related it. Thats what I believe would happen if a white person posed that question. Miss Jones was back on the airwaves the next day, there were no protests or demands for her firing. The fact of the matter is that what she said on the radio on December, 12th was not only blatantly racist, but ignorant as well.
Ignorance and Irresponsibility
Miss Jones needs to realize that she is a role model for young people (not only black) who listen to her show every morning. Some of those who listen and look up to her take her words seriously. With that said, Miss Jones is fueling racial animosity among her young listeners by asking them what irritates them most about white people. That is possibly one of the most irresponsible things someone who has possibly millions of listeners can do. Someone with a forum like that should preach open-mindedness and respect, not racism.
Open Your Mind
This is what I say to Miss Jones; open your mind! There are bad things about people in every race be it White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, etc. However, as a radio personality who has a huge number of listeners why not focus on the good rather than the bad. Why not preach togetherness rather than hate. It might not get you ratings but it’ll definitely garner you respect.
